Tofail Ahmed is a Bangladesh academic and local governance expert. He is the chairman of the Local Government Reform Commission. He is a retired professor and former head of the department of public administration at the

University of Chittagong The University of Chittagong () also known as Chittagong University (CU), is a public research university located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was established on 18 November 1966. It is the fifth oldest university of Bangladesh. Having an area ...

. He is the chairperson of the Knowledge and Action Network Worldwide (Knowledge Trust).

Early life

Ahmed was born on 4 May 1955 in Chittagong. He completed his SSC and HSC at the Fatehabad High School and

Chittagong College Chittagong College is a public educational institution in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is a higher secondary school and also a degree awarding college of National University, Bangladesh. It is the second higher secondary school in the region that ...

respectively. He completed his bachelor's degree and master's degree in politics and administration at the

in 1976 and 1977 respectively. He completed a second master's at the

Swansea University Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

in Social Sector Planning and Management in 1981 and where he also completed his PhD in Development Studies in 1991.

Career

Ahmed joined Fatehpur High School as an assistant teacher in 1975. From 1976 to 1978, he worked at

Agrani Bank Agrani Bank PLC. () is a state-owned commercial bank of Bangladesh established in 1972. Its headquarters is situated at Motijheel in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Md. Anwarul Islam is the CEO of Agrani Bank. History Agrani Bank Lim ...

. From 1979 to 1981, he worked at the

Chittagong Port Authority Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is a government agency of Bangladesh responsible for the management, maintenance and governance of the country's major port of Chittagong, located in the city of Chittagong on the Karnaphuli River nine nautical mi ...

. Ahmed joined Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development as a faculty in 1981; where he worked till 1994. From 1994 to 2007, he worked at the University of Chittagong. He was a Governance Adviser of Shiree from 2007 to 2008. He was a member of the Local Government Commission in 2009. Ahmed was an advisor on Local Governance for the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

from 2009 to 2014. From 2014 to 2015, Ahmed was a director of the

BRAC Institute of Governance and Development BRAC may stand for: Military * Base Realignment and Closure for U.S. military bases * 1988 Base Realignment and Closure Commission * 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission * 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission * 1995 Base Realignm ...

Brac University BRAC University (, also known as BRACU) is a private research university located in Merul Badda, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 2001 as a branch of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed's BRAC under the Private University Act 1992. History Sir ...

. From 2015 to 2016, he was the governance director of Manusher Jonno Foundation. He was a professor of political science at

North South University North South University (, also known as NSU) is a Private university, private research university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 1992 under the Private University Act, 1992 by the then Foundation for Promotion of Education and Resea ...

. From 2018 to 2021, he was the vice chancellor of Britannia University. He was awarded the Mercantile Bank Award in 2018 for his contribution to education. He served on the

Bangladesh Planning Commission Bangladesh Planning Commission (; denoted as PC) is the economic public policy institution of the Government of Bangladesh. The Planning Commission undertakes research studies and policy development initiatives for the growth of national econom ...

. In 2020, Ahmed criticized the framing of charges against Matiur Rahman, editor of

Prothom Alo ''Prothom Alo'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka. It is one of the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to the National Media Survey of 2018, conducted by Kantar MRB ...

, over the death of school student by electrocution at an event of the newspaper. In 2022, Ahmed's name was suggested for the post of commissioner of the

Bangladesh Election Commission The Bangladesh Election Commission (), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is a government controlled constitutional body that operates the Law, legal functions of election laws in Bangladesh. Article 118 of the Constitution of Bangla ...

. In October 2023, he called on political parties to hold dialogue to avoid conflict at an event of

Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (translation: Citizens for Good Governance) (SHUJAN) is an organization in Bangladesh. The word SHUJAN, is a Bengali word. It came from an sentence "''Shushanar Janniya Nagorik – SHUJAN''". The headquarter of this orga ...

. After the fall of the

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

led

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

government, the

Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, and civil society leader who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Chief Adviser of the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus, interim Yunus ministry, g ...

led interim government made Ahmed a member of the newly created Electoral System Reform Commission in October 2024. He was appointed chairman of the Local Government Reform Commission.

Bibliography

* Gender Dimensions in Local Government Institutions (2003) * Bangladesh: Reform Agenda for Local Governance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Tofail Living people 1955 births People from Chittagong District Chittagong College alumni University of Chittagong alumni Alumni of Swansea University Academic staff of the University of Chittagong